Sri Lankan Army has no option, but to fight back

By Nirupama Subramanian

NEW DELHI, MAY 12.The tragic irony facing the Sri Lankan army is that this is the only opportunity they have to fight back the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, because this is the only time it has nowhere to run.

Trapped in the northern reaches of the Jaffna peninsula and surrounded by sea, the demoralised troops have no option but to fight back, unlike their track record on previous occasions in the face of LTTE attacks.

Over six months ago, mass desertions on the Vanni front during strikes by the LTTE forced the army to pull back its lines, neutralising every military gain made the previous two years in the mainland.

The story is not one of cowardice, but of an absence of motivation, inadequate training, and above all, overpowering fatigue.

The Sri Lankan army is perhaps the only fighting force in the world, which has been constantly at war since 1983.

Even in the three years that the Indian-Peace Keeping Force was in the north-east fighting the LTTE, the Sri Lankan troops were battling an armed insurgency by Sinhalese extremists in the south.

Since April 1995, the forces have been on overdrive, pursuing the President, Mrs. Chandrika Kumaratunga's ``war for peace''. With the military launching a number of ambitious operations, there has not been a moment's rest for the soldiers.

Last October, the Army marked its 50th anniversary in style, celebrating its graduation from a ceremonial force, which it was till the 80s, to a professional fighting force in the closing years of the 20th century.

But behind the pomp was the sad truth of around 30,000 desertions - some even from the ranks of junior officers - from an army that is barely 150,000 strong.

Recruitment drives over the last four years have brought in meagre numbers, even as generals emphasised that they needed at least 20,000 more troops to defeat the LTTE. Those who join do so not out of any commitment to the country, but to beat unemployment and poverty. Nor does Sri Lanka have much of a martial tradition or warrior groups.

On the other hand, the urgent requirement for men at the front has meant that the army scaling down its height and weight requirements and reducing training to a mere three months.

Men and women who have barely got used to carrying a weapon are sent to fight a guerilla force that is highly committed and motivated, and has weapons to match any conventional army.

So what happened to the nationalistic high that the capture of Jaffna from the LTTE in 1996 generated? All it took for that to evaporate was an attack in July that year on the isolated Mullaithivu camp. Over 1,000 soldiers were killed in under two days of fighting. Since then, it has been one downhill journey - exacerbated by disastrous operations like Jaya Sikurui - that no amount of political bombast has been able to disguise.

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